Sunday, November 01, 2009

Missing Kevin Maguire Already

Seeing as Kevin Maguire crowed over my failure to be selected in Bracknell, let me be rather more grown up than him (not difficult) and express my concern that his services no longer seem to be required by the New Statesman. His often incomprehensible diary column hasn't appeared since 1 October, the week of the magazine's relaunch. I don't recall seeing it in the printed edition and there are none online since that date.

It could, of course, be that he has been on holiday for the last month and that no one has noticed.

Perhaps I should suggest to Ben Duckworth, the new editor of Total Politics, that we should offer him a berth.

Iain, I think the way you have supported CCO over South Norfolkgate perhaps shows why you have failed to be selected. You have taken the party line instead of even giving the locals a hearing.We are not the Labour party, it is because they have had this central dictatorship we are in the mess we are. So let the locals decide and support their decision whatever they do.

I like the comments he gets. Even "Mirror" readers disown him, and from them it looks like he has lost a fair number of former Labour voters (I have some of these comments on file and could quote some real corkers).

As far as the New Statesman is concerned: the comments to an earlier article there prompted the editor at the time to promise never to commission anything from him again (I also have that on file). I assume the editor has either changed or been leant on since then…

Just a reader of this blog who has commented many times in the past, and always, I hope, in a constructive manner. I now find to comment I must be a google account holder, hence, the recent acquisition of such an account.

I did regard this particular post by Mr Dale as a little sad and just a touch vindictive.

As for my own political beliefs, I was a Tory Party member from about the age of 14 but left the party in the early years of this century, in my early 30's. I live in Canada and vote Liberal here, as I would now in the UK too.

BTW, Mr Dale, I wonder why you have not commented on Prof Nutt's dismissal and the resultant crisis in the Government's drugs policy. I wonder if it has anything to do with Mr Grayling's non response?

Kevin Maguire is a busted flush, writing for a rag with a plummeting readership and peddling a tissue of Number 10 approved class hatred stories. The Lord Ha Ha of our day; his demise is imminent, like that of his yellow sheet.

I believe he is fully committed to his full-time gig to be on standby 24/7 at a moment's notice (pretty sure a small room has been provided to assist) for the BBC, from Breakfast News to Newsnight, as 'the independent voice of the working person' (sic)

As a SW Norfolk "turnip Talib" my resentment is not that the selected candiate is a woman or that she has a private life - its the fact that she was parachuted in past some excellent local candidates (both male and female). Carry on at this rate and we will have to start pushing again for Norfolk Independence!

So you could fully understand Maguire's vile obsequiousness to his masters in the Labour party, I should have been able to post a link to an article that he wrote as the McBride/Draper email affair broke, in April. It garnered 300+ comments, virtually all hostile - so hostile, in fact, that the Mirror has since deleted the article.Fortunately, James Delingpole preserved a part of it for posterity. http://bit.ly/2979c8

Iain, I must take issue with you when you seek to disparage Kevin Maguire in this way. You may be interested to see my blog post last week about a Labour Party fundraising event in Richmond Park constituency hosted by the Labour PPC Eleanor Tunnicliffe.

Kevin was there in his capacity as a good Labour Party member in Richmond Park. I think it's good to see top journalists like Kevin putting their money where there mouth is and supporting their local Labour Party.